


In the Forest of Densewood

by Whale (drivethruwhale)



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Gen, so I'm just gonna drop it here, solo character, this is my first fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:27:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24344986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/drivethruwhale/pseuds/Whale
Summary: While exploring another planet Entrapta has a run in with mysterious creatures that live in tunnels beneath a massive jungle.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	In the Forest of Densewood

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic ever, so I'm just gonna put it out there. Feedback appreciated.

The jungle of this planet was vast and dark, but Entrapta’s goggles had been designed to see in the low light of her castle back home. Her ship was nestled snugly into the sturdy branches of the canopy, since she had wanted to study the jungle and there hadn’t been any other good landing spots. After initial scans had shown the atmosphere to be safe she had removed her space suit and put on some exploratory duds. Stepping out of the ship she breathed in the fresh air and set out to find the jungle floor. As her hair steadily grasped at branches on her descent she pulled out a small recording device and made an entry. “Solo Extraplanetary Exploration Mission log day 48: This planet seems to have an unusually large expanse of jungle, covering an estimated 2/3s of its central landmass. All lifeforms so far encountered show no unexpected evolutionary deviations for this biome.” 

Clicking the device off she continued her trajectory towards the ground. Something caught her attention and she quickly switched the device back on. “Addendum to last entry, there appears to be an abundance of tiny fruit! And the tracker pad scan indicates that it’s all edible!” She hastily grabbed several handfuls of various fruits and stuffed them in her pack. Suddenly there was a large explosion of birds and other assorted tree life as a series of thundering booms shook the jungle. Entrapta found herself grasping wildly with her hair to keep from being flung to the ground; when as suddenly as the booming had started it stopped, and she found herself staring into the eye of a giant creature. 

“Discovery log #1: I have just made the acquaintance of a large mammalian creature, with an approximate height of 20 feet. It doesn’t appear to be hostile, but after my previous encounters on Planet 6 I don’t want to take any chances.” The creature was large, approximately 2 stories tall, and seemed to resemble a mix between a river otter and pilot whale, with tapir-like feet. The animal's upper lip curled back as it tentatively sniffed her, before snorting dismissively and slowly booming off. “From what I could see of its dental structure it’s most likely omnivorous with a predilection for large leaves and slower moving prey. I’ll have to come up with a name for it later. OH! Speaking of names, I’ve decided to call this planet Deepjungle! Or maybe Darkforest? It’s a work in progress.”

Entrapta hopped down the last few branches to the jungle floor, deftly landing at the base of the tree. It was times like these that she missed having Emily along, but she had had to leave her back at home to help Hordak with his rehabilitation. She’d have enjoyed having his companionship and expertise for this mission as well, but the other Princesses had insisted that he remain under surveillance after the defeat of Horde Prime. And so the Extraplanetary Exploration Mission had become the Solo Extraplanetary Exploration Mission. Which worked well for the acronym. Besides, she had Darla to keep her company, so she was happy.

Something suddenly twinkled in the green light filtering down through the trees. Adjusting her goggles she was able to make out a pair of eyes gazing out of the darkness at her. “Hello there!” she called out, hoping that whatever it was understood her. There was a scuffling amongst the underbrush and the eyes disappeared for a second before reemerging on the other side of a tree. “Who are you? Are you a native? Your eyes don’t look the same as the other animals around here.” 

As she spoke a figure emerged, standing around 5 feet tall, though Entrapta suspected it was probably closer to 6 feet when unhunched. It had beady eyes that appeared to be mostly black, and a large badger-like snout. It was sniffing nervously, and it’s ears twitched furiously at the slightest sound. Slowly she held her hand out to it and continued, “Do you live around here? Are there more of you?” It tilted its head in confusion and slowly lifted its own hand to match hers. She noted it had long claws on its fingers, the kind better suited for digging than for scratching. “Can you understand me?” she asked.

Tilting its head the other direction it opened its mouth and uttered a series of grunts, chitters, and barks. “Hold on a sec,” she said, “I’ve got to scan you real real quick.” She held up the tracker pad as the creature continued to make noises. “Hah! Just as I thought! There appears to be some type of unrecognized speech patterns in your noises! I bet if I hang around for a bit I can make a translation program! Ok Chitters, I’m coming with you!”

Before she could impose herself any further, the ground started shaking again. Chitters went silent, crouching low and looking about nervously. The nearby foliage burst open as another whale-otter came rushing forward, teeth bared and snarling, eyes fixated on Chitters. “I’ve got it! I’ll call you a Stomper!” she exclaimed before getting bowled over by a fleeing Chitters. It looked like her assumption about the Stomper’s prey was correct, Chitters wasn’t the swiftest of beings. “Hey wait! Let me come with you!” Entrapta called after them. Running with her hair she quickly overtook Chitters, scooping them up in a flurry of claws and barks. Using their frantic clawing and distressed motions as a rudimentary compass, she deftly navigated the thick underbrush. With the Stomper now far behind, she gently set them down. 

Reeling from the sudden excitement, Chitters collapsed onto all fours, giving Entrapta a good idea of what the creature it had evolved from looked like. Suddenly she had an idea. “I’ll bet you like tiny food too!” she said and pulled some of the fruits from her pack. Chitters looked at them for only a second before grabbing several and quickly devouring them. Entrapta joined them on the ground and helped herself to some fruit as well, observing which ones Chitters peeled and which ones were simply eaten whole. Having regained their composure, Chitters slowly rose to their feet and beckoned to Entrapta to follow them. They led her on a winding path through the underbrush to an area not far from where the tracker pad said Darla was parked, high in the canopy above. There they cleared away some well placed leaves and vines to reveal the entrance to a tunnel going down into the side of a hill. Inside the walls were lined with torches which gave off a dim orange glow. “Wow, this place is amazing! Did you build it all by yourself?” 

Reaching a crossroads, Chitters let out a series of gentle grunts and squeaks, before cocking their head intently towards one of the paths. Slowly there came an echoing of their noises, and several figures emerged from the dark of the other tunnel. They all looked similar to Chitters, and ranged in age from children, small and spritely, to the more obviously elderly, hunched and graying at the muzzle. “This is amazing! You have a whole clan down here!” The group surrounded Entrapta, chittering away amongst themselves as they sniffed and inspected her up and down, until Chitters stepped in and gently guided her down the tunnel the others had come from. 

At the end of it a large room had been carved out, and a fire was roaring in the center. To one side a large pile of leaves and grass was being used as a bed by a group, who slept curled around each other for warmth. Around the fire were more leaves which Chitters beckoned to Entrapta to sit on. Her entourage joined her around the fire, chittering and grunting. She took the opportunity to catch up on her SEEM logs while Chitters excitedly gesticulated and chattered away. She could only assume they were regaling the group with the tale of their meeting. As the story went on she realized that this was the perfect chance to begin creating a translation program, and set about recording as much of the conversation as she could. Occasionally one of the others would approach her with food in rudimentary bowls, or excitedly present what she could only assume were basic tools to her. As the day went on clan members would wake and be introduced to the newcomer, while others went about various tasks. 

It wasn’t until well into the next day that Entrapta felt the translator was ready. She approached Chitters and turned it on. “Hello there! Can you understand me?” The tracker pad produced a series of grunts and barks, and Chitters ears perked up in amazement, and they responded with their own series of squeaks and barks. The translator shot out in perfect Etherian, “You twig backward ballroom?”

“Oh dear,” said Entrapta, “I guess it still needs some work. But at least we’ve got a starting point.” It was another 3 misfires before they reached something approaching conversation. “How about now? Am I making sense?” Several of the clan members sat up in interest, and Chitters responded, for real this time.

“Yes! You are! I was beginning to think you were messing with me.”

“Oh I wouldn’t do that. Language is just a tricky thing to get right,” Entrapta replied. “But now that we can talk, I have so many questions for you.”

“And I for you!” Chitters said.

It was another week before Entrapta left. After her initial stay in the Sett, as they called it, she had returned to Darla to compile her information and refresh her supplies. Then she had spent the days in the Sett, learning everything she could about the clans customs. They called themselves the Dag Erb, and had only started the switch from hunter-gatherers to learning how to produce their own food. Several of the tunnels were used as insect farms, which provided for most of the food the clan ate, while others were used in the production of the tools and pottery they were learning to make. Overall it was exactly the kind of thing she had hoped would come from SEEM. When the time came to leave, she wished everyone a fond farewell, saving the last goodbye for Garbed (formally Chitters). 

As she was flying off she recorded one last log. “SEEM log day 56: I’m finally leaving the Dag Erb, and can’t wait to see what other kinds of people I’ll meet on my mission. Darla and I are headed to the next star system, where scans show some promising planets.” With a satisfied sigh, she got to work improving Darla as much as she could.

“Addendum to last log, I just figured out what to call that planet. Densewood!”


End file.
